


In Case of Sadness

by MellyMiraculous (randomelity)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Depression, Fluff, Gen, Mostly friendship, can be read as mildly shippy, in which Adrien is really sad and Marinette understands, with a touch of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 21:06:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6255784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomelity/pseuds/MellyMiraculous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette notices that Adrien is sad and wants to cheer him up, but how should she do so?</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Case of Sadness

**Author's Note:**

> This is something which came to me in the midst of my own funk. Sometimes sadness doesn't have much of a reason, but there are things that can help. For me, it's writing.
> 
> Kudos are sweet, but comments are love. Mostly, please enjoy!

Marinette couldn't place what exactly was off about Adrien, of late. Her bafflement over what had changed in her crush resulted in her studying him with greater intensity. This resulted in embarrassment when Adrien kept catching her staring at him and an increase of teasing from Alya.

She finally figured it out, though. As she watched him bid goodbye to Nino when his driver arrived to pick him up after school, she saw it hiding behind his eyes and in the lines of his smile.

Adrien was sad.

The realization seemed to cut down straight to her heart. Dear, kind, wonderful Adrien was sad – and for the life of her, Marinette couldn't figure out how long it had been going on.

Sitting at her desk at home, the girl frowned at one of Adrien's pictures, twiddling a pen in one hand as she pondered. She wanted to do something. She wanted Adrien to be happy. But what could she do? It wasn't as though one could force a person to be happy.

The pen slowed in its movement as an idea slowly came to her. Could that really work? Her gaze ticked over to a pink polka-dotted box that was currently half-buried in fabric. Rising from her chair, the girl moved closer, setting aside the cloth and staring at the box. After a moment, she used her key to unlock it and retrieve her diary from inside.

Marinette didn't bother to flip through the pages. What she was looking for was at the very front, tucked just inside the front cover. Removing the worn page from its place, the girl set the diary aside and unfolded the battered paper. Her fingers moved gently over the half-faded words.

Yes, she thought to herself, maybe it would work. At the very least, it wouldn't hurt to try.

0o0o0

Adrien smiled in greeting as he spotted Marinette after he'd been dropped off at school. To his moderate surprise, rather than shyly returning his wave as she was usually inclined to do, the dark-haired girl made a beeline towards him.

“M-morning, Adrien,” she said brightly, then brandished a small box at him. He recognized it as the same kind used in her parents' pâtisserie. “I made some cookies a-and thought you might like some.” She peeked up at him as she patiently held out the offering.

He responded with a happy grin. “Thanks, Marinette!” he told her, accepting the unexpected gift. Adrien loved cookies, although he wasn't often allowed to have them.

“You're welcome,” Marinette said with a small smile of her own, face flushing slightly.

The cookies were delicious and Adrien – with some help from Nino – enjoyed them immensely. It was kind of Marinette to share her extra baking, he thought. All his friends were very kind. It made him glad that he had persisted in his desire to attend school.

At the end of the day, Marinette and Alya were also there when Nino waved him off to be escorted home by his bodyguard. As the car pulled away from the curb, Adrien thought he saw Marinette frowning, but when he took a better look, she was smiling and waving. He must've imagined it, although why he'd imagined such an unhappy look on his friend's face was beyond him.

Any lingering doubts he had were absolved the following day when the girl met him with a warm smile and another, larger box full of pastries. “So we can all share!”

0o0

“What, no sweets today?” Alya teased Marinette when she came across her best friend seated upon the steps leading up to the school.

Marinette made a face at her and smiled sheepishly. “Not today,” she said. “Maybe tomorrow.” After all, the cookies and the pastries hadn't been enough, had they?

“Nino will be disappointed,” Alya laughed. “I've gotta stop in the library before class, so I'll see you inside, okay?” She waited for her friend's nod before continuing inside, leaving the other girl to wait on the steps for the third day in a row.

As the familiar vehicle pulled up, Marinette rose to her feet. Her lips pressed into a nervous line as a rather notable flush rose preemptively to her cheeks. Maybe this was a bad idea. It was definitely a bad idea. What was she _thinking_? But it had to be worth a try. There was no other way to know.

“Good morning, Marinette,” Adrien called out as she hurriedly approached. He wondered that she was waiting for him again when it didn't appear that she had brought anything she wished to give to him.

“M-m-morning, A-A-” Marinette stammered out, giving it up as a lost cause for the moment. Then, before she could chicken out, she took a small step even closer. Raising up on her toes, she reached out and leaned forward. Her arms encircled his shoulders for a brief moment, one hand giving the lightest of pats, then she quickly pulled away again. “Good morning,” she squeaked out as she turned and practically fled, her face nearly as red as Ladybug's mask.

Adrien stared after her in surprise, the softest laugh breezing past his lips. Marinette would never know, for she didn't dare to look, but a blush had colored his own face – and a smile had graced his features.

0o0o0

Adrien didn't understand just what was going on, but Marinette was behaving differently. It wasn't in a bad way. Actually, the boy found his friend was being especially sweet and kind. He just didn't know what had brought it on.

Almost every other day, she brought in something from her parents' bakery for the four of them to share. One day, they had all gone for ice cream – an idea which, Nino later informed him, had been Marinette's. Another time, she had brought in a small book to loan to him. Adrien still wasn't certain how she knew he liked poetry.

Then, there was that hug.

She had only done that the once, and as much as it had caught him entirely off-guard, the boy had really appreciated the gesture. His father very rarely initiated any sort of embrace, and most of time, those seemed somehow insincere. He certainly wasn't being hugged by anyone else. Well, except Chloé, perhaps, but the girl's fawning put him off. Marinette's hug had been... nice, if a bit brief.

Still, Adrien had just made up his mind that he would consult Nino on what he thought was going on with the girl. Nino seemed to understand these things a bit better, probably because he had more experience with having friends. Little did he know that he wouldn't need to consult his best friend, after all.

Marinette had rushed in late, combined with the misfortune of tripping on the bottom step of the classroom. Items from her bag scattered all over the place and she hastened to stuff them back. Adrien stooped to assist, earning a grateful smile. She hurried to her seat, plopping down beside Alya.

She had missed something, though. The girl probably hadn't seen it because it had landed at the end of his own bag. Leaning over a bit precariously, Adrien managed to grab the yellowed piece of paper.

As he lifted it up, the page fell open. It had clearly taken significant wear, likely from being carried around, and it had been folded and refolded so many times that it was nearly ready to come apart at the creases. Before he could refold it to hand the page back, the bold words by his thumb caught his attention.

“ _In Case of Sadness._ ”

Adrien blinked in surprise, now holding what was clearly a list more carefully as his eyes started to scan the fading words.

“ _1\. Eat cookies._ ”

The boy sucked in a breath, remembering the cookies Marinette had brought him a little over a week ago. Part of his mind knew he should stop reading, but he couldn't seem to help himself.

“ _2\. Ask for hugs._

_3\. Spend time with friends._

_4\. ICECREAM._ ”

It slowly dawned on him what, precisely, he was looking at. _In case of sadness_. Adrien swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. _In case of_ sadness! _Oh, Marinette._

He turned in his seat and her blue eyes met his for moment before her gaze dropped to the paper he held. With a gasp, Marinette covered her mouth with one hand, a brilliant red flush spreading across her cheeks. She looked away from him, clearly embarrassed.

Slowly, Adrien folded the tattered old piece of paper - Marinette's list of things that made her happy. Setting it atop her desk, he reached out his hand to lay it over hers. He was glad that it resulted in her looking back at him like he thought it would.

Smiling warmly at the girl, Adrien gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Marinette,” he told her, making sure to put feeling behind the words.

Marinette let her other hand fall to the desktop, giving him a soft smile of her own. “You're welcome, Adrien,” she said. “Anytime.” The boy gave a faint grin, then turned back to the front of the room as their teacher started the class.

Sliding the folded list closer to her, Marinette picked it up and tucked it away. It had worked. Maybe only for a moment, but it had worked. During that moment, there had been no sign of sadness lurking behind Adrien's eyes. That made it worth all the effort. As the professor began to drone, Marinette pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began to write a new list.

“ _In Case Adrien is Sad:_

 _1\. Let him know you care._ ”

0o0

End.

 


End file.
